Do we really understand war?
"People who have never been on the battlefield are not qualified to talk about war."
A film released in 1930, the opening subtitle of the film is a classic of film history: this story is neither an accusation nor a confession. Although many people are taking risks, it is definitely not as good as this group of people facing the death, who hid in the air-raid shelter. As soon as you go out, you will be destroyed by the fire.
The movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" was adapted from the novel of the same name by German writer Remark. The total cost was 1.25 million US dollars. , Most of them are veterans who have participated in the tragic battles of World War I. Each soldier's uniforms, firearms, and even tactical actions are completely restored.
Although it is a black-and-white movie, it makes people feel the cruelty and horrific experience of the battlefield. The trenches and makeshift hospitals full of corpses can be seen at any time, and the living environment is extremely harsh. The film's premiere in Germany was attacked and smashed by the Nazis at the time. After its release, it was completely banned in Germany and Italy at the time. The film's creative team was also excluded and suppressed by the film market that advocated capital. Satire.
The film tells about the war experience of several German students on the battlefield of the confrontation between Germany and France. It starts with a class. Outside the window is the queue of the army and the people welcome. More than 20 young Paul and his partner joined the battlefield, and the humorous emergency combat training just reflected the ruthlessness and misery on the battlefield behind.
The uninterrupted air raids on the battlefield over the top of the head caused some students to lose their minds and ran out of the trenches to be bombed to death; a major problem they still faced was that they had enough to eat, the war was ravaged by insufficient reserves, and the soldiers were all hungry. , was sent to fight, the protagonist Paul assassinated an enemy with a dagger for the first time in order to save his life, but instinctively called out a military doctor to rescue the wounded.
After being baptized by the bloody war, there was not much left of the group, and their comrades in arms left one by one. They were either hit by enemy shells, or died of suffering in the hospital after being injured. They couldn't help asking themselves, what is the war for? Paul, discussing this with the veteran, asks if the mountains of Germany and the plains of France are fighting? Which of the soldiers of the two countries is not a young talent, a family pillar, if not for war, they should also become friends, but now they want to take each other's life without a word, the white bones are like silent protests.
Paul, who was injured and on vacation, returned to his hometown. Because the war town was depressed, the teacher in the classroom was still encouraging a new batch of student volunteers. Paul couldn't help but scolded the teacher. Thousands of people died on the battlefield, life is like a year, everyone is turned into a tool, where is the glory, the teacher did not witness the cruelty of the battlefield, so it is easy to advocate young people to die for the country, but also to fight for the motherland I need your slogan. What made him even more unacceptable was that his fathers, who had the same cognition as the teacher, hid in the far side of the battlefield, ruthlessly consuming the soldiers' patriotic enthusiasm and interests. And timid ridicule, ruthless more than battlefield.
At the end of the film, in the confrontation situation where Germany was preaching "No War on the Western Front" everywhere, Paul on the battlefield saw a butterfly not far from the trench, a colorful butterfly symbolizing "peace", when he reached out his hand to touch it. , the gunshots of the snipers on the opposite side sounded. Peace, how beautiful and untouchable! Although people have paid the price of thousands of lives again and again, they still cannot get lasting peace.
In the end, the ruthless reality also confirmed this. Just 9 years after the film was released, World War II broke out in full force, pushing human civilization to the brink of collapse.
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